Claire Smith has always been passionate about sport and had dreams of becoming a PE teacher. She wanted to learn more about the psychology and biology behind sport and the human body and our Sport Science degree allowed her to do that.
Following graduation, Claire’s first job was at London South Bank University as a Sports Administrator and she was later promoted to London Coaching Development Officer. She then moved on to be a Competition Manager as part of the School Sport Partnership Programme, working in the London Borough of Redbridge. After being made redundant, Claire was fortunate to find a new job as a Project Manager at the University of East London where she managed a programme of sporting activities for students and completed a master’s course in Project Management.
Following this, Claire worked for three years as Programme Manager for national governing bodies and major events for London Sport, the largest county sports partnership in the country. Claire took voluntary redundancy from that role and became a self-employed sports’ consultant as she felt that she could use the contacts, skills and experience gained over the years to work on different projects.
In recent years Claire has completed projects for Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Sporting Memories Foundation and British Fencing. One of her current ongoing projects is for Essex Cricket working as an Active Families Coordinator for East London boroughs. This role entails coordinating delivery of All Stars and Dynamos Cricket and supporting over 30 centres to run these programmes.
Looking back on her time at UCLan, Claire enjoyed being a part of the University’s netball team, she said: “It was a great group of girls from all courses and all years of study. We had such a great time at training and matches and it really made my time at UCLan.”
Speaking about the impact of her degree, Claire added:
"Studying at UCLan gave me invaluable experience of managing my workload, being organised and able to manage my time effectively. It is a great way to meet new people and broaden your horizons."